In the games

Role

If Brendan is selected as the player character he starts his journey moving from his home in Johto to his new home in the town of Littleroot in Hoenn. After saving Prof. Birch from a wild Pokémon, he is given one of the three starters of the Hoenn region. Brendan develops a close bond with May, and eventually Wally, who both act as his rivals. Brendan goes on to gather the eight Badges of Hoenn, stop the plans of Team AquaSE/Team MagmaRE and conquer the Pokémon League all before going off to face the Battle Frontier (in Emerald).

If Brendan is not selected as the player, he is helping his dad finish the Hoenn Pokédex and becoming a Pokémon Professor. He is also the player's rival and friend. Unlike other rivals (except for May when playing as Brendan), he gives up being a Trainer, making them the only rivals unavailable for battle after defeating the Elite Four. Additionally, they both are the only ones to not evolve their starter Pokémon into its final form.

Quotes

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire

This section is incomplete.Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.

Littleroot Town

"Pokémon fully restored… Items all packed, and… Hey! You… Who are you? Oh, you're <player>, aren't you? Moved in next door, right? I didn't know that you're a girl. Dad, Prof. Birch, said that our new next-door neighbor is a Gym Leader's kid, so I assumed you'd be a guy. My name's Brendan. So, hi, neighbor! Huh? Hey, <player>, don't you have a Pokémon? Do you want me to go catch you one? Aw, darn, I forgot… I'm supposed to go help my dad catch some wild Pokémon. Some other time, okay?"

Oldale Town

"Hey, it's <player>! …Oh, yeah, Dad gave you a Pokémon. Since we're here, how about a little battle? I'll teach you what being a Trainer's about!"

When defeated

"Huh, <player>, you're not too shabby."

After battle

"I think I get it. I think I see why my dad has his eye out for you now. Look, your Pokémon already likes you, even though you just got it. <player>, I get the feeling that you could befriend any Pokémon with ease. We should head back to the Lab.

Professor Birch's lab

"Huh… So you got a Pokédex, too. Well then, here. I'll give you this."

"You know it's more fun to have a whole bunch of Pokémon. I'm going to explore all over the place to find different Pokémon. If I find any cool Pokémon, you bet I'll try to get them with Poké Balls."

"<player>, how's you Pokédex? Have you filled in any pages yet? Mine rules. I went on a Pokémon-catching frenzy in Petalburg Woods until I ran out of Poké Balls."

"By the way, I walked by Mr. Briney in Petalburg Woods. I bet he was on his way home to his cottage by the sea. I bet you didn’t know this, but he’s always got a Pokémon with him."

Pokémon Emerald

Littleroot Town

"Hey! You... Who are you? Oh, you're <player>, aren't you? Moved in next door, right? I didn't know you're a girl. Dad, Prof. Birch, said our new next-door neighbor is a Gym Leader's kid, so I assumed you'd be a guy. My name's Brendan. So, hi, neighbor! Huh? Hey, <player>, don't you have a Pokémon? Do you want me to go catch you one? Aw, darn, I forgot... I'm supposed to go help my dad catch some wild Pokémon. Some other time, okay?"

Route 103

"Okay, so it's this one and that one that live on Route 103..."

Before battle

"Hey, it's <player>! ...Oh, yeah, Dad gave you a Pokémon. Since we're here, how about a little battle? I'll teach you what being a Trainer's all about!"

When defeated

"Huh, <player>, you're not too shabby."

After battle

"I think I get it. I think I know why my dad has his eye out for you now. Look, your Pokémon already likes you, even though you just got it. <Player>, I get the feeling you could befriend any Pokémon with ease. We should head back to the Lab."

Professor Birch's Lab

"Huh... So you got a Pokédex, too. Well then, here. I'll give you these."

"You know it's more fun to have a whole bunch of Pokémon. I'm going to explore all over the place to find different Pokémon. If I find any cool Pokémon, you bet I'll try to catch them with Poké Balls."

Rustboro City

"Oh, hey, <player>! You had a Match Call feature put on your Pokénav! Cool! Let's register each other so we can get in touch anytime!"

"By the way, <player>, I walked by Mr. Briney in Petalburg Woods. I bet he was on his way to his cottage by the sea. <player>, how's your Pokédex? Have you filled any pages yet? Mine rules. Want to have a battle to test how far you've progressed?"

Yes: "I know you just became a Trainer, but I won't go easy!"

No:"What's the matter? Don't have any confidence in your Pokémon?"

When defeated

"Hmm... You're pretty good."

After battle

"By the way, you know Mr. Briney? The guy I just passed? I bet you didn't know this, since you just moved here, <player>, but Mr. Briney was once a great sailor."

Route 110

Before battle

"Hey, <player>. So this is where you were. How's it going? Have you been raising your Pokémon? I'll check for you."

"That's an Itemfinder. Use it to root around for items that aren't visible. If it senses something, it emits a sound. Anyway, I'm off to look for new Pokémon."

Lavaridge Town

"<Player>, hey, it's been a while. How's it going? Hmm... That's a decent collection of Badges. All right then. You may as well have this."

"Keep those with you if you're planning on going into that desert near Route 111. There should be some Pokémon that are exclusively desert-dwellers. You might look around for those. As for me... I'm considering challenging Norman, the Gym Leader of Petalburg. Unlike you, <player>, your dad looks like he really is tough. See you around!"

Route 119

Before battle

"<Player>! So this is where you've been looking for Pokémon? Let me see how good you got. I'll test you! Now! It's a battle, so battle!"

"Use Fly, and your Pokémon instantly carries you to any town you've already visited. But you need the Fortree Gym Badge to do that. Anyway, I have to move along."

Lilycove City

Before battle

"Oh, hey, its <player>. I'm running an errand for my dad. No, I'm not buying any Dolls. Anyways, it's been a while. Want to have a battle to see who's raising Pokémon better?"

Yes: "Aww, but you know I'm not going to lose to no <player>."

No: "Oh, what's the matter? Don't have the confidence?"

When defeated

"Humph... You've done a lot of raising. That stings a bit--I had a head start on you as a Trainer..."

After battle

"I... I plan on going home to Littleroot. You know I'm helping my dad on his Pokédex. It's coming together pretty decently, so I should go show him. <Player>, what are you going to do? Collect all the Gym Badges and take the Pokémon League challenge? Maybe I'll do that, too... Well, anyway, hang in there!"

Names

While the player can name this character as is the case with all player characters, there are several default names provided for him. In Ruby and Sapphire, he has four default names, including three shared between the two versions. The two variant names between games collaborates with the theme of the plot, referring to "land" and "sea" respectively.

In the English version, these names are Landon and Sean; in the Japanese version, リクヤ Rikuya and カイト Kaito (陸 riku means land and 海 kai means sea). This is also the case in other languages. Additionally, in the English version, two of the shared names—Terry and Seth—seem to be influenced by the same theme.

In all translated versions of Emerald, Brendan has the same default names as in Pokémon Ruby, as well as 16 additional names which don't seem to hold any significance. Consequently, there is no default name that relates to "sea" in Emerald. Notably, as the player character, the name Brendan (or its other language counterparts) is never offered as a default name in any version.

As a rival, Brendan's name is static.

The full list of default names for Brendan as the male playable character in the games are as follows:

Like in the games, he has the starter Pokémon that weakens May's. It is unknown if his relatives are the same as that of the games, where, as May is Norman's daughter (as the player is), Brendan would be Professor Birch's son.

Brendan's Shiftry was only briefly seen in a Double Battle at the beginning of the sixth movie alongside Aggron, against a Solrock and Manectric. During the battle, Shiftry was hit by the Manectric's Spark. Notably, Shiftry is kept within a Repeat Ball, a type of Poké Ball rarely seen in the anime.

In the manga

In the TFG

Brendan, based on a blue recolor of this character's usual clothes, appears as a common Trainer figure in Next Quest, the launch set of the Pokémon Trading Figure Game. There is also an unreleased figurine based on him from the cancelled Groundbreakers expansion, named Landon (one of the default names for him in Pokémon Ruby and Emerald), who wears the same outfit as Brendan does in Ruby and Sapphire.